The transaction values OneWeb at £2.8bn and is expected to be structured as an exchange of OneWeb shares by its shareholders with new shares issued by Eutelsat, leaving the latter owning 100% of OneWeb.
Combined the two companies will look to build a constellation of low-orbit satellites but it could also the Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, together with France, China and the UK, as shareholders in the new group – which could prove politically sensitive.
Eutelsat and OneWeb said that combined business would have revenue of about £1bn and core earnings of about €700m by the 2022-23 financial year, while revenue was forecast to grow at a low double-digit compound annual growth rate over the next decade.
The move comes at a time when demand for satellite launches is expected to accelerate after recent sanctions sidelined the Russian space launch industry. Giant satellite constellations are seen as offering a new channel to beam broadband internet from space.
